Which Mac M2 for studio ?

spark240

So Im still doing ok with my base Mac mini M1, with the main issue being lack of space on the 256 SSD.

 But with the looming M3 models coming soon, I figure folks will be offloading some M2 models, so I thinking of an upgrade, Im mainly using Studio One and Davinci for video edits.

Id like to stay with the Mac Mini....what you think...M2 Pro 512 / 16G ?  

colourofsound

It really doesn't matter. The M chips are incredibly performant; and the only ceiling you'll hit is RAM if you use big sample libraries.

Given how quick USB3 is, I'd stick with your M1 Mini and buy an external USB3 SSD drive that lives plugged into it. If storage is the only performance issue you're having, there's no reason to upgrade.

spark240

colourofsound said:

It really doesn't matter. The M chips are incredibly performant; and the only ceiling you'll hit is RAM if you use big sample libraries.

Given how quick USB3 is, I'd stick with your M1 Mini and buy an external USB3 SSD drive that lives plugged into it. If storage is the only performance issue you're having, there's no reason to upgrade.

Ive come against an issue whereby I cant upgrade the OS due to not enough space on the SSD...I seem to have a lot of stuff in a folder called "Other" ...

Whistler

Dump the "Other" folder onto a USB3 drive (HD, SSD or thumb drive; whatever) to free up space on the disk where the OS is. Then you can upgrade the OS.

spark240

Whistler said:

Dump the "Other" folder onto a USB3 drive (HD, SSD or thumb drive; whatever) to free up space on the disk where the OS is. Then you can upgrade the OS.

Ahh....Ok I wasn't sure I could do that...

Alun

There’s also an argument that M1 chips are currently better suited to music work than M2/3, as most DAWs don’t take full advantage of the newer cores (even Logic). This might change eventually but for the moment you’d technically be better off saving a little extra and going for an M1 Studio, potentially. 

Fingers657

I use SSD Mac Mini's as controls everything is stored on separate SSD & HD drives .

spark240

@octatonic - what you think?

Stratavarious

I have a dock for my M2 mini that holds a 2TB SSD..   neat.. and adds a bunch of extra USB, HDMI and SD slots too.

spark240

Stratavarious said:

I have a dock for my M2 mini that holds a 2TB SSD..   neat.. and adds a bunch of extra USB, HDMI and SD slots too.

Yeah it’s not connectivity I’m too fussed about….more on board storage and general performance for music and video….I cant keep up with what uses more cores and all that jazz.

Catthan

mac studio m1? max or ultra or whichever the top boi is nowadays. 

spark240

Catthan said:

mac studio m1? max or ultra or whichever the top boi is nowadays. 

Yeah it does look like the original M1 Studio is a good choice at the Moment